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London: A Ryanair flight to Spain made an emergency landing at Limoges airport in France after a loss of cabin pressure, the airline said on Tuesday.
Ryanair flight FR9336 left Bristol airport for Barcelona late on Monday with 168 passengers on board, and "experienced an inflight depressurisation incident which caused the oxygen masks on board to deploy," the airline said.
"As a safety precaution, the captain descended and diverted the aircraft to Limoges airport at approximately 23:30 local French time," it added in a statement.
Sixteen people were taken to hospital; complaining of earache, the airline added.
Explorer Pen Hadow, who was aboard, told Sky Television the incident "was traumatic for many involved."
"Suddenly there was a roar of wind, a rush of cold air, the oxygen masks dropped, you didn't know what was going on," he said.
"No oxygen was delivered through the oxygen masks and I was surprised there seemed to be no communication between the pilot and the flight attendants because they didn't seem to know what to say and do," he said.
But Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary dismissed Hadow's complaints, saying the oxygen masks were working and that the crew dealt with the situation "appropriately".
"Passengers sometimes misunderstand ... they expect a surge of oxygen when in actual fact there is a steady stream of oxygen," said O'Leary.
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